Knowing Whats Important
by Bluecutie
Summary: Haley left after high school graduation to go on tour. She not only left Nathan but their friends. Everyone is grown up, living their lives, and have become succesful Haley comes back and has to deal with everyones version of the truth behind her leaving.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hey guys this is my first fic. I hope you enjoy this first chapter, please review and tell me what you think and if you want me to continue writing.

Summary: Haley left right after high school graduation to go on tour. She and Nathan weren't married but were in a very serious relationship. She not only left Nathan but many others behind. Now that everyone is grown up, living their lives, and have become succesful Haley comes back and has to deal with everyones version of the truth behind her leaving.

Haley James was wearing a pair of black sweatpants wiith a matching sweatshirt and a white tanktop underneath. She was rolling her large luggage case, with a her carry-on hanging on the opposite shoulder. She wore big sunglasses to hide her identity, along with a L.A Lakers hat over her hair which was in a neat and sleak ponytail. As she walked through the airport, the occasional person would would do a double-take, but she would pay them no attention, and no one stopped her, mainly because of the much taller man walking with her.

"How may I help you today?" said the woman at the counter.

"I'm Haley James, my manager called earlier about having a car waiting for me when I arrive?" She really hoped they had her car, she just got off the plane and could feel the jet lag creeping up on her.

"Yes Ms. James, we have the key to your car right here, and we hope you have a wonderful stay here in Tree Hill North Carolina." the receptionist smiled.

"Thank you." she replied.

"Your welcome." the receptionist said.

Tree Hill. Thats where she was and where she wa going to be for her small vacation. Her manager Sarah had worked her magic and go Haley some time off before she had to go on tour to promote her new album. So the first place she though to go was to Tree Hill. It was going to be a suprise. She hadn't seen her parents since last Christmas. And she hadn't been in Tree Hill since she graduated high school. Since then the only way she saw her parents was at one of her six siblings houses during the holidays, or when she invited them up to stay with her in her penthouse in LA.

"Haley would you like me to drive?" asked the tall man that was walking with her.

"No, when was the last time I let you drive for me?" Haley teased.

"Never..." he answered

"So why would I let you start now?" she asked.

"Because you look tired." he replied.

"I'm not too tired to drive to my parents house." she retorted.

And that was the end of their daily 'who's driving today'arguement. They exited the airport and Haley pressed the panic button on the key find out where the car was. She and the man walked to the car who's alarm was blaring. Once they got closer to the car Haley saw it was a candy-apple red Lexus IS 250 C. Just by looking at the car Haley could tell that not only was Sarah thinking of her when she picked out the car ,but also for herself.

" Nice car, now I'm happy I'm not driving." the man stated while loading his and Haley's luggage into the truck.

"Why?" Haley asked. She was getting into the drivers seat and started the car. The man got in on the passenger side, once he had the car door shut and his seatbelt was on, Haley pulled out off the parking lot and take off down the street, to the destenation of her parents house.

"Cause its a chick's car. And if you hadn't noticed I'm all man" And that he was. His muscular build and his good looks, Haley couldn't deny that he was indeed 'all man'.

"Oh please, thats the only reason your here with me right now, to have someone feed you ego."

"I can't help it if your mom loves me-"

"More like she loves your body."

"Well its part of my job to look this way, and look at me, who wouldn't love this body?"

"I know but sometime I think my parents come to visit only to see you and the entertainment system." she replied.

"Of course they do." he said playfully

Haley loved their playfull banter. Thats why they worked so well together. Their banter continued until Haley pulled into her parents driveway. Haley and the man got their luggage out of the trunk and before they could even make it to the front porch, the door opened and Lydia James ran outside and went right over to the man.

"Oh I missed you, how have you been. Oh tell me everything, I just made peanut butter cookies, your favorite." Lydia said while taking his arm and pulling him into the house.

Haley walked into the house and heard three voices coming from the kitchen. She closed and locked the front after putting her luggage by the door. She walked into the kitchen without even being notice, so she decided to get everyone's attention because after all, these were her parents.

"Hello, your loving daughter, right here!" she waved her arms in the air and pointed to herself to get her parents to see her.

"Oh hi sweetheart, how are you doing?" Jimmy James asked her youngest daughter. He walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"Hi daddy, I missed you." she replied

"I missed you too. Come have a seat with us have some cookies."

"Hi baby. Sorry about earlier, but you know how it is, look at this body." Lydia said while motioning to the man, that arrived with Haley, like a game show girl.

"Now tell us, how is it to have finished another album?" Jimmy asked

"How did you know I finished... oh wait.. Taylor, she was there with me in LA when I finished and made plans to come back here to surprise you guys..."

"Never trust Taylor!" her parents replied in unison.

"Well now that my surprise is ruined, tell me what you guys have been up to."

And thats exactly what the four of them did. They spent hours talking and catching up about their lives since they last seen dinner they ordered pizza and continued to talk until it was dark outside. Once Haley and the man were settled Lydia and Jimmy went to bed. Before she went to sleep Haley stood by her window and looked down at the car she drove up in earlier, it made her think of Sarah.

Haley couldn't wait until Sarah made it to Tree Hill, she was her best friend and she missed her. They met eachother freshman year at Stanford, they were roommates and best friends ever since. She knew everything about Sarah and vice versa. But what Haley didn't know was that in a short time Sarah, along with her parents and a few more people would be her only allies. And the people that she expected to stay on her side no matter the circumstance, she will find out they now consider her the enemy.

AN: Thank you guys for reading. Please review and tell me if you like it so far and if you want me to continue.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own OTH, I'm only borrowing the characters.  
AN: Hope you like the new chapter. Read&Review. Please Happy reading.

"Yes mom, I know I should come home more often." Nathan was on a plane to Tree Hill talking to mother. The conversation started with him calling to find out if she brought his car to the airport, and now she was talking about how he needed to visit more.

"Well mom I'm only staying for a little while." He would say and do anything to apease his mother so he could get off the phone.

"Hey Nate, we're landing soon. Oh and tell you mom I said hi." Said Clay. Clay was his bestfriend, besides Lucas, But he was also his agent.

"Okay, mom...no mom...well if you let me get a word in I would tell that the plane will be landig soon and that I'll see you in a little while." Nathan laugh. His mother wouldn't let him get a word in edge wise during the whole conversation.

"Okay, bye mom."

Nathan missed his mom. He hadn't seen her since his last off-season, so he thought he would come and visit her while he was in the off-season again. when he told Clay the day after his last game that he was going to tree Hill, and asked if he wanted to go with him, he said sure. Now he and Clay were on a plane about to land in Tree Hill. Over the years Nathan and Deb had become close. Deb had gotten divorced from Dan Scott, Nathan's father, and straightened things out to make everything better for Nathan, just like she promised. Things were great, the divorce was finalized, Nathan moved back in with Deb, she completed rehab, and they got a restraining order against him. Dan Scott was out of there lives, except for when they may have saw him around town. Everything was great, that was until Dan became mayor and felt he could do whatever he wanted. But Nathan and Deb tried to make the best of their limited Dan free time, and between all the things that happened they became close.

"Is your mom cooking for us when we get there?" asked Clay.

"Why?" Nathan asked.

"Cause last time when she cooked it was awesome, I think I gained weight from eating so much.. Thats how good it was." replied Clay.

Nathan laughed when he heard what Clay said, "Man you actually believed her when she said that she made dinner?"

"Well yeah, why wouldn't I?" Clay was confused as to why Nathan thought it was funny.

"Dude she lied." Nathan replied.

"Why would she?" Clay was now even my confused, why would Nathan's mom lie?

"She wanted to make a good impression, I don't even remember the last time my mother made dinner. Dude she bought the food from Karen's. My mom couoldn't cook even if her life depended on it."

"Oh well I hope she get more food from there because it was good. And look, all while you were explaing that to me, we landed."

Nathan and Clay made their way off the plane and through airport. they had gotten their luggage and were in the parking lot looking for Nathan's car. Once they found the black Range Rover they put their luggage in the back, Nathan got into the drivers seat, Clay got into the passenger, and they made their way to Deb's house.

"So last time we weren't here a long time so I wasn't able to see if there were any hot girls here." stated Clay

"Depends on what you define as hot, but yeah there are some hot girls here." Nathan replied.

"So who all is going to be herewhile we are?" Clay asked, referring to Nathan's other friends.

"Well, Peyton and Jake live here, so there here, and my mom said Lucas and Brooke got in yesterday." Nathan said

"Did you tell them that I was coming, maybe they could have brought someone for me?"

"Yes, I told them about you, and no they didn't bring someone for you. Sorry my 'better than a puppy effect' is wearing off." he smirked, thinking of a party he and Clay went to during his rookie season, where Clay claimed that Nathan worked better than a puppy to attract girls.

"Its cool, so what is this like a highschool reunion with all the people you used to hang out with?"

"Nah, no exactly..." Nathan said thinking of the biggest mistake in his life. If he hadn't made that mistake, he might have not been in the situation he was in now. Coming out of his train of thought, and missing Clay suspicious expression, he noticed that he was at his mother's house. It was the house he grew up in, the one Deb won in the divorce.

"Come on, lets go." Nathan said after pulling into the driveway and killing the ignition. He and Clay got out of the car, got luggage and walked to the front door, Nathan unlocked the door, he and Clay put their luggage down by the door and closed it after. "Mom, we're here." Nathan called.

"In the living room." Deb called back.

They walked into the living room to find Deb sitting on the couch, watching television, with three coffee cups and a pot of coffee on the table.

"Hey mom." Nathan greeted Deb, when she stood up, he gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Hi sweetheart, hi Clay." Deb said hugging Clay after she finished hugging Nathan.

" Hi Deb" he replied

After they finished greeting, got some coffee, and sat down Deb looked at Nathan expectantly.

"What?" he asked

"Nothing, I'm just waiting for you to start talking. I know there is a reason why you came from LA all the way here. So what is it?" she asked

"Nothing, a guy can't just come visit his mother in his off-season?" he replied, knowing that it was a pathetic way of avoiding the subject Deb was hinting at.

"Yeah, he could... if he was't in the situation you are in, so are you going to tell me or..." she turned to look at Clay, who was sitting in a chair opposite of her and Nathan on the couch, "I'm I going to have to get it out of Clay?"

Clay gave Nathan a look that said 'tell her or i will'.

"Fine, she lost the baby." he said emotionlessly, which didn't go unnoticed by Deb.

"Thats horrible, but why do you sound so detached sweetheart?" she asked.

"Because it wasn't mine, we had a paternity test done and it wasn't mine. I mean... dont get me wrong... I feel bad that she lost it but I'm too mad because she to lie to me and said it was my kid."

"I'm sorry sweetie. But at least you dont have to be with her anymore."

"Yeah but it kind of made sense why she lied because one day I started to break up with her, she just blurted out that she was pregnant." Nathan said.

"Well its a good thing you had her take the test." commented his mother

"I can thank Clay for that, I was some stunned when she said it and told Clay, that I didn't even think of it."

"Well thank you Clay, for taking care of Nathan." she said

Deb was greatful for Clay, he was there for Nathan when she couldn't. Ever since she met Clay when he and Nathan were in college, she thought of Clay as a another son.

"Its my job, as Nathan's agnet and his friend." Clay replied.

"Well where is she now, hasn't it been long time-"

"Months, seven to be exact. At first I was okay because of what she went through, but then she kept saying that she was looking for a place but I noticed she wasn't looking at all, I told her she had to leave." Nathan had broken up with her after he found out it wasn't his baby, but she didn't move out and he would have felt bad kicking her out, so he told her while she looked for a place she could stay there. Then she lost the baby, so he let her stay while she was grieving, he wasn't heartless. But then he noticed the old her coming back to he said she needed to start looking for a place, and when he saw her making no effort to do so, he told her she needed to leave and have all her things gone by the time he came back from vacation. And here he was on vacation, visiting his mother.

"Hopefully she's gone when you get back." Deb said. She knew now Nathan felt about her and also knew she was just a way to replace and fill in for a bigger mistake he made. She knew the truth.

"Yeah,well its getting late we should all get som rest." Clay said. While they were talking he didn't realize how late it had gotten. And he could tell by the tone Nathan was talkig in, that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. Nathan's tone was angry, and exasperated.

"Your right, well you guys know where everything is, I'm going to bed." Deb said.

"Night mom" "Night Deb" Nathan and Clay said after hugging Deb.

They both went and got their luggage from by the door, went to their rooms.

Once Nathan was settled and in bed, he laid in bed staring at the ceiling, thinking about what was going on in his life. He laid there evaluating how his life has played out over the years, and after wondering what would happen if he did one thing and didn't do some others, he came up with the same conclusion.

The biggest decison he made at the end of his senior year was the biggest mistake he made in his life.

AN: So that was chapter two. Hope you guys liked it. The more replies I get the faster I will upload another chapter. Once again, I hope you guys liked it. 


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